Presidential
candidates unclear on ASEAN
Ahmad Rizky Mardhatillah Umar ;
A
staff member at the ASEAN Studies Center,
Gadjah Mada
University
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JAKARTA
POST, 02 Mei 2014
Recent developments
in the 2014 general elections have seen an absence of ASEAN debate from both
legislative and presidential candidates. From the legislative campaign to
current coalition talks, we have not heard any serious discussion on
Indonesia’s position toward ASEAN.
While
there have been slogans that glorified Indonesia in global politics — such as
“Asian Tiger” — there has been no clear vision on how Indonesia’s foreign
policy will be managed, particularly in the regional environment.
This is
ironic; as the ASEAN Community will be established next year, our president’s
vision on ASEAN will determine Indonesia’s position in the upcoming era. It
makes this year’s general elections important, not only for the Indonesian
people, but also for ASEAN.
The most
interesting part of this year’s election is the rise of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Gerindra Party, two parties with
populist-nationalist rhetoric that have been in opposition to the government
of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over the last five years. Quick-count
results from the legislative election have so far placed these parties among
the top three positions, along with the Golkar Party.
The
PDI-P is renowned for its populist and pro-poor approach to gaining voters,
including the use of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno’s slogans, as well
as criticism of Yudhoyono’s “neoliberal” government, while Gerindra uses
populist economics and readapts nationalist symbolism to gain middle-class
voters.
Both of
these parties have utilized nationalist rhetoric as a main part of their
political programs. Their approaches — such as nationalization or pro-poor
programs — are different to the more pragmatic approach of the ruling
Democratic Party.
This
nationalist rhetoric is also accompanied by the tendency to strengthen the
state’s role in managing the economy. Several campaigns from the PDI-P and
Gerindra have raised “sovereignty” and “nationalization” as items on the
political agenda, in contrast to the policies of the government.
Although
the commitment to nationalization by presidential candidates Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo and Prabowo Subianto is still in question, their statements and
programs reflect intentions to raise nationalism as a main topic of
discourse.
The
rhetoric campaigned by the PDI-P and Gerindra has two prominent
characteristics.
First,
the rhetoric glorifies Indonesia’s greatness and its decadence under a
neoliberal regime. The parties reject neoliberal capitalism and excessive
foreign investment and exploitation, and they call for the nationalization of
strategic industrial assets, particularly those related to mining.
However,
the PDI-P and Gerindra do not fully reject capitalism and the parties have
been supported by several domestic businesspeople.
Second,
the rhetoric strongly calls for “national sovereignty” and a strong state
role in the economy. Both the PDI-P and Gerindra have described nationalism
as a “state-led economy” in which the government stands strong in the face of
the global economy. It shares some similarities with the early New Order
government, which put an emphasis on state-led planning and industry, but
with the full support of foreign aid, as described by scholars Vedi Hadiz and
Richard Robison.
State-led
capitalism differs from neoliberal capitalism in terms of who regulates the
market and the role of the state, but is similar in terms of capital
accumulation. State-led capitalism only transfers the locus of capitalist
accumulation within the state; it has nothing to do with the bigger
capitalist accumulation process.
Thus,
within state capitalism, the capitalist accumulation will be preserved. With
its strong position in the economy, the state will be able to control any
industry or investment in the country (for example, through a licensing
policy) and thus create a new form of oligarchy with businesspeople. It makes
the state relatively autonomous in the process of capitalist accumulation in
Indonesia.
The
nationalist rhetoric is merely a redundant form of the “state-led capitalism”
practiced in the early New Order era. As long as capitalists’ interests can
be preserved by the new government, there will be no radical change in the
next regime.
So, what
would this mean for ASEAN regionalism?
This
year’s election will have at least two implications for regional integration
in South East Asia. First, the election will determine Indonesia’s position
toward ASEAN. Nationalist candidates will favor a strong position based on
“national interest”, while candidates from centrist parties (the Democratic
Party or Golkar Party) will favor a more regionalist approach in their
foreign policy.
Parties
with nationalist tendencies are likely to be skeptical toward ASEAN
integration. Gerindra seems to consider ASEAN and cooperation in other
regional and international frameworks as an obstacle for national
sovereignty. Gerindra’s position is clearer than that of other parties —
Indonesia’s foreign policy should be based on state-defined national
interest. Parties with religious tendencies, such as the Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS), aim to bring Indonesia’s foreign policy closer to the so-called
interests of the Muslim community.
However
since ASEAN has been completely institutionalized since 2003, such
nationalist and religious tendencies will have to adapt its norms.
Second,
the election result will determine debates and negotiations related to the
ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Nationalists will favor higher state control
of the economy, but “centrists” seem to accommodate ideas of “free trade” or
a “competitive economy” embedded in the AEC Blueprint. However, their
position toward capital will not be different to that of the current
government.
The absence of clear foreign policy including regional and
international cooperation from presidential candidates will lead to a lack of
preparedness for facing the regional and global challenges ahead. ●
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